


Perfect Performance Chemistry

by GreyscaleSky



Category: The Muppets - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23690185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyscaleSky/pseuds/GreyscaleSky
Summary: Muppet Labs star in another live show, but Bunsen has developed a little stage fright.
Relationships: Beaker/Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	Perfect Performance Chemistry

Bunsen Honeydew was a very confident man. He'd basically always been very confident in himself since he was young, and being a performer for so long helped smooth the edges of anxiety he may or may not have ever had. He could do anything on stage and be sure the audience would cheer.  
So when he was having second thoughts about this brand new performance he was a little surprised.  
Sure, this new act was very out there in terms of content. It hadn't been rehearsed, it had been kept a secret from most of the other Muppets, Beaker included, and it was a very big change for everyone.  
But he'd thought long and hard about it. The change was big but welcome, the news sites would go crazy for it, the fans would be beyond astounded, the comments... well, he'd had his worries about the comments, but they'd probably be buried under supportive comments. So he'd written up his own script and passed along the plan to Piggy, who had known for a long time and was very excited to help. She kept it a secret, surprisingly, too.

But... he couldn't go through with it. He just couldn't. His legs were shaking just from the idea of it. His chest felt heavy every time he thought about it, the notes he'd thrown out and the box he'd left in his bag backstage. He was prepared to be scolded by Piggy later.  
"Next up we have Muppet Labs!" The audience cheered and Bunsen couldn't help but smile proudly. He watched the stage hands set up the counter and the fake machinery for their performance when Piggy came up behind him.  
"I'm very excited for this, Bunsen! I've been searching online and it turns out you were right about the reactions we'd get!" Bunsen raised his eyebrow. "And of course we'd be happy for you, too!"   
"Thank you, Piggy. But... I can't do it. I'm going to go with our original performance."  
"What?!" Some of the backstage crew stopped to watch. "Get back to work!" They rushed off again and Piggy put one arm over Bunsen's shoulders. He was more surprised by the kind gesture than anything else.  
"Listen to me, Bunsen. Now I know this must be scary for you, it's a very big thing." Bunsen nodded. "But I know more than anyone that you two are a team and that you can do this." She tightened his tie knot for him and nudged him forward. Bunsen shook his head.  
"I..."  
"Muppet Labs!" Kermit yelled, and Beaker came running up to Bunsen. Bunsen shook his head at Piggy, who gave him a sympathetic frown, and they left to the stage. The audience clapped and screamed as they waved and the music began to play.

"Welcome to Muppet Labs, where the future is being made today! I'm Doctor Bunsen Honeydew and this is my lovely assistant Beaker!" Beaker waved with both hands to the audience.  
"Now tell me, have you ever-"  
"Hey, Honeydew!" He paused and looked around for the source of the voice. When he turned around he saw Statler and Waldorf on the screen live in their own box. If he looked hard enough he could see behind them was the stage, and then he thought about inception.  
"How can you do your act when you left your notes back here?" His heart dropped. Beaker looked down at his script under the counter in utter bafflement.

Bunsen froze completely, watching the two geezers laughing and passing the small pile of notes between them.  
"I think it starts here."  
"Your handwriting's as bad as your performances! Dohoho!"  
"Please don't read those notes." Bunsen muttered just loud enough to be heard through his mic.  
"Oh I dunno, Waldorf, you think we should?"   
"Maybe we should be asking them!" Waldorf pointed to the audience through the screen. "Whaddya say, folks? Wanna hear us read through Bunsen's super secret notes?"   
The audience erupted in cheers and whistles, Beaker looked completely lost. Bunsen hid his face in his hands.  
Statler cleared his throat.  
"Beaker."   
Beaker looked up at the screen.  
"You are an inspiration to me, someone I can look up to not just literally, but figuratively too, a shining beacon of a heart of gold and an insanely brilliant mind. Without you I'm truly nothing." Beaker put one hand over his mouth. Bunsen, unsure of what to do with his hands for once, pushed them into his pockets and paused at the familiar feeling of a velvet box. When had... _Piggy_.  
"I'm so thankful that you stayed, even after all the bruises, and I'm even more thankful that you love me. I knew there was something special about you from the very beginning."  
Bunsen's face was burning and the audience were deathly silent as they watched. He dared to peek at them and some looked very knowing. Others were whispering to each other, and even more were filming. He thought again about the comments he'd see online, and then he looked at Beaker.  
Beaker was incredibly smart and had definitely figured out what was going on, which is why he was looking at him and not the screen.  
"I think Honeydew wants to ask this." Statler stopped, tapping the stack of cards together to tidy them up. They both watched with surprising excitement and a lack of mockery. Bunsen looked up at the screen, over at the audience, behind him at Piggy and Kermit already in tears, and finally at Beaker.  
"Beaker..." He spoke. His microphone was almost picking up his throbbing heart, and it was definitely picking up his raw, hiccupping throat. Beaker smiled and Bunsen could see the beginning of tears in his eyes, too.  
"Beaker." He said again, clearer. And then with one deep breath he got down on one knee and pulled out the box. 

"Will you marry me?"

Beaker let out a choked 'Meep' that even to him was just a meep. His head was nodding up and down and he was stepping forward but he couldn't even make a noise.  
Bunsen took his shaking hands and pulled him down onto his knees, and Beaker fell into his open arms. The audience were louder than he'd ever heard them before, and there was a lot of crying coming from both him and Beaker, but also from the giant screen that was still livestreaming Statler and Waldorf. They were dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs and mocking each other for being soft.  
"What are you crying for, you old fool?"  
"I'm crying because they'll invite us to the wedding! Dohoho!"

**Author's Note:**

> Consider joing my Muppet discord ;) You'll get early drafts of these fics.


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